The present invention relates to a zipper slide, and more particularly to a zipper slide provided with means for restraining a pull tab thereof from swinging when the slide has been moved with the pull tab to a desired position on a zipper.
There are times some clothes or articles, such as zipper sports jackets and pants, need to have a pull tab of the zipper thereof selectively fixed in place to prevent the tab from swinging while the wearer is moving.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a currently commercially available zipper slide, a pull tab of which can be fixed in place to prevent the same from swinging. Such conventional zipper slide mainly includes a slide 10 provided with a leaf spring 11 and a tab 12 having a buckle 13 connected thereto. A cam 14 is connected to a head of the buckle 13 and is normally pressed by the leaf spring 11, such that when the tab 12 is pivotally turned downward by a certain angle relative to the slide 10, the leaf spring 11 automatically presses the tab 12 to a flat position, as shown in FIG. 2, and therefore restrains the tab 12 from swinging. Following are some disadvantages of the above-described conventional zipper slide with tab-restraining means:
1. High Manufacturing Cost is Required:
The leaf spring 11 would be stuck to the slide 10 and loses its designed elasticity if it is plated after being assembled to the slide 10. To keep the leaf spring 11 in a suitable elastic state, it and the slide 10 must be separately plated before being connected to each other. This inevitably increases the manufacturing cost of the zipper slide.
2. Baking Finish is not Applicable:
Baking finish conducted on assembled slide 10 and leaf spring 11 would cause the leaf spring 11 to stick to the slide 10 and lose its designed elasticity, too. And, paint on the slide 10 might be scraped off by the leaf spring 11 when assembling the latter to the slide 10, if the slide 10 and the leaf spring 11 are separately baking-finished.
3. Automated Connection of Slide to Zipper Tapes is not Possible:
The tab 12 automatically moves downward to lie flatly when the tab 12 is set to a certain angular position relative to the slide 10 as shown in FIG. 3. This prevents the tab 12 from being well clamped by tools in the automated operation of connecting the slide 10 to zipper tapes.
The above-described conventional zipper slide with tab-restraining means requires high manufacturing cost and is therefore suited for use only on expensive clothes or articles. For less expensive clothes and articles, a zipper slide 20 without tab-restraining means as that shown in FIG. 4 is used. The sipper slide 20 can be manufactured at low cost, but its tab 21 could not be fixed in place and would swing with movements of a wearer.